FAYETTEVILLE -- On a brilliant fall day, the University of Arkansas picked up its second win in a game that was not very brilliant, but it was just what the Razorbacks and their fans needed after six consecutive losses.
More than 40,000 were on hand to see the 23-0 win, although at the start of the fourth quarter with the Hogs leading 20-0, the exits became crowded.
It was apparent from start to finish the Razorbacks were the better team and that Tulsa was there for the almost $1.4 million that former athletic director Jeff Long gave the program. The game was decided in the third quarter when the teams spent almost 13 minutes in Golden Hurricane territory.
The good news for the Razorbacks was they won, the defense recorded a shutout after giving up an average of almost 40 points per game the past six games, and they beat Tulsa worse than No. 7 Texas did (28-21 on Sept. 8).
Tulsa is an outstanding academic university in a nice city, and the Golden Hurricane's uniforms were clean and neat, but most of the game they could have been penalized for not having enough players on the field.
The Hurricane's closest thing to a score were two missed field goals and a very late drive to the Arkansas 11, where the Hogs' defense stopped them.
It wasn't really that the Razorbacks overpowered the visitors, but they took advantage of everything they were given. It also gave starting quarterback Ty Storey a week to get over his injury (all indications are he suffered a concussion against Ole Miss last week) and back on the field.
Storey practiced last week but apparently failed the protocol tests Thursday.
The much-anticipated start by true freshman Connor Noland was successful, checking most of the boxes. The more he played, the better he got. He finished 10-of-16 passing for 124 yards and a touchdown.
This was not a game to get overly optimistic about, but it was certainly a lot better than what happened at Colorado State or against North Texas at home.
The game and the crowd should have impressed Kelly Bryant, who was on his official visit. He's the quarterback from Clemson who is transferring for his final season. Bryant appeared to receive a loud Hog call when he left the stands for the field with seconds left in the game.
There were other reasons for Hog calls Saturday, just not a ton of reasons.
The first half had about as much excitement as a one-person bake-off at the state fair.
Arkansas and Tulsa were incredibly predictable. The Razorbacks ran plays on 14 first-half first downs, and the run part was literal as they ran on 12 of those. The Golden Hurricane had their own issues, converting only two third downs while five third-down attempts were bad passes.
Both starting quarterbacks were freshmen. Seth Boomer is a redshirt freshman who was 2-of-13 passing in the first half and went to the locker room at intermission with a quarterback rating of 25.8 and nowhere to go but up.
Noland, who threw an early interception, settled down and managed the team to a 10-0 halftime lead, completing 8-of-12 passes, including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Grayson Gunter. His rating at the half was 127.2.
It was obvious why Tulsa was 1-5 and Arkansas was 1-6, although Rakeem Boyd continues to improve and finished with 99 yards on 22 carries, but sat out the majority of the second half.
It should be pointed out that the homecoming ceremonies and Razorback band were very good at halftime.
Sports on 10/21/2018